The Soundtrack of Our Youth
I’ve almost always got some kind of background noise in my life. As I’m typing this, it is quite loud in my office, as the UPS driver is doing one of his daily pickups for Konasports.com. I give the man credit. He’s got his work cut out for him, lugging 75 packages out the door, and doing so twice a day, 5 times a week. Its sounds like this that I have become familiar with, and therefore find comfort in. The same can be said for some of my favorite bands, singers and songwriters. Aside from the normal hustle and bustle of the shop, I almost always have my iTunes or Pandora playing something mellow in the background. To be honest, I tend to struggle in situations with complete silence. I by no means am a quiet person, and I tend to find comfort in more vibrant, stimulating scenarios.
With that being said, I have taken my buying plan into a different direction than some of my fellow surf shops, trying to focus more on the electronics that go hand in hand with the industry. These days, any professional action sports athlete has a footwear sponsor, an apparel sponsor, an most recently, a headphone sponsor. I will admit that I am jealous of these up and coming pros, who can be seen in ads and at contests proudly wearing their headphones for the world to see. This would definitely not be the case, were it 5 years in the past. Now you might say to yourself, “buy why would a pro surfer have a sponsorship from a headphone company?” Well, an obvious answer to that would be brand identity. Skullcandy wants their product to be associated with the up and coming youth of this generation, and a great way to do that, is to throw a pair of the new Skullcandy Aviators on Kolohe Andino. This way, as the kid is crushing heats and being carried like a champ out of the water, he can receive his over sized check while wearing a piece of very noticeable Skullcandy product.
The headphone craze has deeper roots than just sponsorship when it comes to action sports. Music ties into the sports of surfing and skateboarding almost as much as the athletes themselves. I would consider music to be one of the most important aspects of both of these sports, and they would not be at the popularity levels that they are, without the music driving them. Surfing videos have a foundation built upon good, thought out soundtracks. It would be tough to get as amped as usual after watching a skate video, if it was set to some sort of Beethoven classical type stuff.
Trust me. Without music, we as surfers would not be where we are now. I have personally witnessed Mick Fanning walk out onto the beach and begin his exercises well before the sun has risen. He does all of this with his headphones on, and never once takes them off. The music really does bring us to a mental state of focus, that can then help us reach levels of athleticism that we never knew possible.
Recently, we’ve acquired a few new headphone brands, some of whom are really blowing us away. If you get the chance, stop into our shop and give the SOL Republic Tracks a listen. We’ve got the display set up so you can plug your phone or mp3 player right into it, and listen to your favorite song on their top notch product. The tracks are super durable, too. I recently left my pair in the back of my friend’s Ford Ranger for 2 weeks. He plays in a band, and at the time, had no idea that my headphones were at the bottom of the truck bed. He said he threw everything from surfboards to giant guitar amps back there, without any sort of caution at all. When I finally found my pair, I just wiped the dust off and plugged them in, and they sounded as good as the day that I bought them. I highly recommend these to anyone who might treat their toys a little rougher than others.
Later this week I am going to highlight a few more aspects of this hugely popular accessory category, and hopefully persuade a few of us to get back into the groove that we know and love. the music is still out there, and with some of these products, boy it has never sounded better! Check out Konasports.com for a huge selection of headphones and headphone accessories today!